The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, has confirmed that the global average temperature for July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded.

 Following the hottest June on record and a series of extreme weather events, including heatwaves in Europe, North America and Asia, and wildfires in Canada and Greece, ERA5 data from C3S show that July 2023 was the hottest month on record globally and broke several records within the month.

The month was 0.72°C warmer than the 1991-2020 average for July, and 0.33°C warmer than the previous warmest month, July 2019.

C3S routinely publishes monthly climate bulletins reporting on the changes observed in global surface air temperature, sea ice cover and hydrological variables. All the reported findings are based on computer-generated analyses using billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world.

July 2023 is estimated to have been around 1.5°C warmer than the average for 1850-1900. Heatwaves were experienced in multiple regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including southern Europe. Well-above average temperatures occurred over several South American countries and around much of Antarctica.

Global average sea surface temperatures also continued to rise, after a long period of unusually high temperatures since April 2023, reaching record high levels in July. For the month as a whole, global average sea surface temperatures were 0.51°C above the 1991-2020 average.

The North Atlantic was 1.05°C above average in July, as temperatures in the northeastern part of the basin remained above average, and unusually high temperatures developed in the northwestern Atlantic.

Marine heatwaves developed south of Greenland and in the Labrador Sea, in the Caribbean basin, and across the Mediterranean Sea.

"These records have dire consequences for both people and the planet"

According to Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S):

"We just witnessed global air temperatures and global ocean surface temperatures set new all-time records in July. These records have dire consequences for both people and the planet exposed to ever more frequent and intense extreme events.”

“2023 is currently the third warmest year to date at 0.43ºC above the recent average, with the average global temperature in July at 1.5°C above preindustrial levels. Even if this is only temporary, it shows the urgency for ambitious efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, which are the main driver behind these records.”

"This long-term warming will continue and temperature records will continue to be broken”

“News of the warmest month on record perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise", said Chris Hewitt, Director of Climate Services at the World Meteorological Organization, during a UN media briefing on 8 August.

"WMO’s latest annual State of the Climate Report stated that 2015 to 2022 were the eight warmest years on record, and this is on the back of a clear warming decade-on-decade. As we continue to see continued increases in concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, this long-term warming will continue and temperature records will continue to be broken.”

Comparing averages for the calendar year to date, from January to July, the global mean for 2023 is the third highest on record, at 0.43°C relative to 1991-2020, compared with 0.49°C for 2016 and 0.48°C for 2020. The gap between 2023 and 2016 is expected to narrow in the coming months, as the latter months of 2016 were relatively cool (reducing the annual average to 0.44°C), while the remainder of 2023 is expected to be relatively warm as the current El Niño event develops.

Antarctic sea ice extent continued to break records

Antarctic sea ice extent continued to break records for the time of year, with a monthly value 15% below average, by far the lowest July extent since satellite observations began. As in June, the daily Antarctic sea ice extent remained substantially below previously observed values for the time of year throughout the month.

Sea ice concentrations were most below-average in the northern Weddell, eastern Bellingshausen, and northern Ross Seas while above-average concentrations persisted in a broad Amundsen Sea sector.

Arctic sea ice extent was slightly below average, but well above the record minimum from July 2020.

While most of the Arctic Ocean saw below-average sea ice concentrations, above-average concentrations prevailed north of the northern Siberian coast.

Drier-than-average conditions experienced across Mediterranean basin

Drier-than-average conditions were experienced across the Mediterranean basin, with Italy and southeastern Europe having the largest anomalies. Extratropical drier-than-average regions included Mexico and the southwestern United States, central and southeastern Asia, southwestern Australia, and parts of southern Brazil and Paraguay.

July 2023 was wetter than average over most of northern Europe and in a region from the Black Sea and Ukraine to northwestern Russia. Beyond Europe, July 2023 was wetter than average over northeastern North America, Afghanistan, Pakistan, northeastern China, northern and eastern Australia, and Chile.